San Bruno Mountain Conference 2020

Mike Vasey’s background and research interests are in environmental studies and conservation biology. He originally came to San Francisco State in 1990 as Coordinator for the then-new SFSU Conservation Biology Program. In the early 1990’s, he was Acting Manager for the SF Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve and led the effort to have it officially designated in 2003. Also during that time, he worked on tidal wetland vegetation projects from South SF Bay to the Delta. He recently received his PhD in Environmental Studies at UC Santa Cruz, where he conducted research on the influence of the summer marine layer on maritime chaparral. For the last 20 years, he has worked with colleagues to develop a systematic treatment for California's Arctostaphylos, the genus that contains several of our rare and endangered plants on San Bruno Mountain.

Tom Parker (V. Thomas Parker; Ph.D. UC Santa Barbara) Professor of Biology at SF State University since 1980. Plant ecologist/evolutionist focusing on plant community dynamics and conservation. Expert in the systematics and ecology of Arctostaphylos species (co-author of treatments for Flora of North America [2009] and Jepson Manual: Higher Plants of California [2012]). Research on dispersal, seed banks, seedling establishment, mycorrhizae, and other aspects of ecology and evolution in a variety of California vegetation types, especially chaparral and tidal wetlands. Over 100 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters; 3 edited books, 1 co-authored Field Guide to Manzanitas.